GUIDELINES

CRITIQUE FORMATS

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Summer group critique sessions

First and second residency students

Groups of eight students will meet for critique during the summer residency. Groups will be facilitated by graduating and doctoral students. Your group will continue during the year. Faculty will facilitate groups in the fall and spring.

Third residency students

Groups of eight students will meet for critique at the exhibition space during the summer residency. Groups will be lead by local artists and curators.

Fall and spring group critique sessions

Critiques through email

1. -1 student presents each Friday per the schedule established at the residency.
   

2. -Have work or links to work available on your Moodle blog.
   

3. -Group emails responses by Sunday.
   

4. -Student presenting gives a 2-3 hour window on Sunday when they will be online on Skype* for optional live discussion.
   

5. -All participants in the group are required to respond to each student presenting. 
   

Critiques through Skype

- Presentations take place by Skype with audio only. 

1. -Students email your Skype ID to your critique facilitator.
   

2. -Students be online with Skype open 15 minutes before the session begins. 
   

- Facilitators please add your student's Skype IDs to your contact list in advance of the session. 

1. -Facilitators will click on the conference button and drag student contacts into the "Conference participants" window
   

2. -Facilitators press "Start" at the appointed hour. 
   

3. -References should be sent through the chat window in Skype. 
   

Guidelines from Jean Marie Casbarian

Postings on Friday -- Responses no later than Monday.

Find your name on the calendar and this will be the day(s) that you post your work. You can lead us to a link on your moodle blog, to a website, or to a personal blog that you might be using to archive your studio practice.  If you're interested in a personal blog and don't know how to do that, there are some very simple sites...(Tumblr and Posterous to name a couple--I can send you links to examps if interested). 

Show us as much or as little as you want feedback on (however you must put some work up or pass). Remember, that when you think something is nothing, it might very well be that the feedback that will incite  direction, new ideas and function as serious fuel, is actually tucked away in that nothing. It's extremely difficult to be our own editor.

You may have specific questions that you might want to ask your group to respond to, or you may just want a cold read on the work. It is up to you to identify what you want from this critique process.

After you post on Friday, everyone in the group has approximately 3-4 days to respond to your posting (Monday).

Be thoughtful in your responses and try to give clear, honest critique.  This, again, can be as brief or as involved as the responder chooses. I've attached several responses that students have written in the past to give you an idea of length and how that might vary--some long; some short.

We will be communicating through a group email.  When you respond to a posting, make sure that you respond to "ALL" in your return email. The point is not only to receive feedback on what your doing in your studio this year, but to come together as a group and create a forum that involves all of us.

During this time period, the student who is posting has an option of opening "Office Hours".  This can be a designated time wherein you open up your Skype door for a few hours (say, Sunday, from 2-5 EST, or by appt., or whatever is suitable and makes sense for you).  Responders may then have a more in depth conversation with you, one-on-one.  This does NOT replace the written response but is an optional time in which a responder may want to connect with you for a deeper conversation.

Be honest. Be constructive--not destructive.  This should be a forum without judgment (for those receiving and giving) and without fear (for those receiving and giving).  It should be useful.  I'm also attaching guidelines for critique. It was written by a dancer, but applies to all in terms of critique.  Look this over and  you might want to refer to these as you work through your responses.

When all is said and done, you may have a variety of responses, some in agreement, some conflicting...that's the beauty of this process....Again, you will have to sift through this information, take what resonates for you, look deeply at what might really irritate you, and above all, hold on to the integrity of your work. It really functions as a space in which to look at what your doing and take it to another level.

Remember, these are only guidelines. Look through the attached responses and see what method / styles work and which don't. You'll soon develop your own style and rhythm in all of this. Attempt to get the most out of this process from whatever position you're standing.

Allow yourself the freedom to push and be pushed....